Dai Young’s squad, featuring a handful of new signings, turned out at the Ricoh in their newly-revealed 150th anniversary kit for the first time.

In warm sunshine, while the banter flew and to the evident displeasure of a watching groundsman a load of 18 stone blokes kicked a football around, last season’s Premiership runners-up officially launched their new season with a distinctly upbeat vibe.

However, by mid-afternoon at least some of the smiles had been replaced by a puzzled expression, and even the odd furrowed brow.

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Because that was the point at which EPCR, the governing body of European club rugby, confirmed its round one and two schedules for this year’s Champions Cup.

Kick off times have been the bane of rugby watchers’ lives for many years now, ever since the involvement of Sky Sports in the early days of the Premiership and the Heineken Cup created a new agenda.

Of course, professional clubs love the big bucks generated by live TV coverage, many of which find their way into players’ pockets by way of rugby directors’ playing budgets.

And for armchair fans, there is nothing better than wall-to-wall coverage across the weekend of Europe’s best clubs going head-to-head in a spectacularly good competition. Indeed, many of us will already have stocked up with beer and snacks for the coming weekend, when all ten Champions Cup ties are televised live by either BT Sport or Sky.

Wasps hope Jimmy Gopperth is fit to wear their No.10 shirt on Friday evening in Belfast.

However, travelling to an away game taking place on Friday evening is far from straightforward, while getting back to work after a Sunday game in a far-flung European city is also problematic.

But while departing the traditional Saturday 3pm slot is something of a poisoned chalice for those off the field, it generally poses less of a problem for those on it.

Or at least that’s what we thought until the afternoon of August 22 when it became apparent that Wasps must face Saracens and Ulster with only five days and four hours between the two kick off times.

By asking players to tackle two matches of the highest intensity in such quick succession, the fixture planners have both handed them an unsympathetic physical challenge and placed a huge hurdle between their team and a fourth successive qualification for the Champions Cup quarter-finals.

Jack Willis could have a first taste of European action this weekend for Wasps

Like Wasps, next Friday’s opponents Ulster had a tough match during last weekend. They hosted Irish rivals Connacht at the Kingspan Stadium, and claimed a battling 16-8 win - but it happened on Friday evening. By contrast, Dai Young’s team faced European champions Saracens 44 hours later.

There are two aspects to this - both of equal importance.

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Firstly, Ulster and Wasps do not now start Friday’s match on a level playing field. Given the likelihood that pool one will end up being decided by the odd bonus point here and there, after a series of Herculean scraps between four evenly-matched sides, this is patently unfair.

One club will be better rested, and have 44 hours additional preparation time. Inevitably, Sod’s Law dictates this is the one not currently suffering crises of injury, form and confidence.

And on a related, but currently extremely topical theme, has even the most cursory of lip service been paid to how this scheduling impacts on player welfare?

Joe Launchbury should return for Wasps this Friday in Belfast.

One senior Wasp recently privately acknowledged he is only absent of all soreness by the Thursday following a Sunday match, which this week leaves no unfettered training time.

When player burn-out, high injury levels and longer-term concerns about how the current generation of warriors will fare physically in later life are concerns of such immediacy, this decision borders on the scandalous.

While Wasps will be affected by it this week, it would be wrong to suggest they are alone on a burning bridge.

Both London Irish and Worcester have already been required to operate on five-day turnarounds in the Premiership this season, which given the absence of left-hand, right-hand co-ordination issues represents an even bigger crime.

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The clubs’ reaction - at least publicly - is to shrug their shoulders and get on with it. As Dai joked through gritted teeth at Allianz Park on Sunday: “if the game was any sooner we’d be going direct from here.”

But should his team fail to earn a lucrative quarter-final because of a narrow defeat in Ulster, questions at the highest level surely will finally be provoked.

From a Wasps perspective let’s hope this doesn’t happen - but should the worst-case scenario to come to pass, the wider sport would undoubtedly benefit in the longer term.